Movie

Buoyed by positive reviews and enthusiastic word-of-mouth, the adaptation of the popular board game lands on the higher end of expectations and topples the Keanu Reeves-starrer.

• Apr 3, 2023

AceShowbiz - "Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves" has stolen the top spot at the domestic box office. The fantasy heist action comedy film opened to an honorable $38.5 million, enough to defeat last week's champion, "John Wick: Chapter 4".

Thanks to positive reviews and enthusiastic word-of-mouth, the big-budget movie landed on the higher end of expectations, which had pegged the film with a debut between $30 million and $40 million. Internationally, the adaptation of the popular role-playing board game collected $33 million from 58 markets for a global tally of $71.5 million.

"Dungeons & Dragons" earned stellar reviews and an A- CinemaScore from audiences. However, the movie needs to maintain strong ticket sales in the coming weeks to guarantee a sequel, as it cost $150 million to produce before marketing.

"The opening weekend performance of 'Dungeons & Dragons' is just the first step in the journey for this well-reviewed film," says Paul Dergarabedian, a senior Comscore analyst, of the possible start of a new movie franchise for Paramount and eOne. "The good news is that fantastic reviews and a solid in-theater experience will likely result in long-term playability."

David A. Gross, who runs the movie consulting firm Franchise Entertainment Research, chimes in, "This is a good opening for an action adventure that has the potential to generate sequels." He adds, "At a cost of $150 million, foreign is where 'Dungeons & Dragons' has to excel to be profitable and become a series."

"John Wick 4", which debuted to a franchise-best of $73.5 million last weekend, falls to the second spot with an estimated $28.2 million. It suffered 62% decrease from last week, collecting a total of $122.9 million domestically so far.

New faith-based movie "His Only Son" enters at No. 3 with approximately $5.5 million from only 1,920 theaters. "Scream VI" follows at the fourth place with approximately $5.3 million, while "Creed III" drops one place to No. 5 with an estimated $5 million.

Next week, "The Super Mario Bros. Movie" is expected to take over the lead, with potential to become one of the biggest movies of the year. "During the last 15 years, toys and video games have become good source material for new franchise films," says Gross of the trend. "That wasn't always the case."

Top 10 of North America Box Office (Mar. 31-Apr. 02, 2023):

1. "Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves" - $38.5 million
2. "John Wick: Chapter 4" - $28.2 million
3. "His Only Son" - $5.5 million
4. "Scream VI" - $5.3 million
5. "Creed III" - $5 million
6. "Shazam! Fury of the Gods" - $4.6 million
7. "A Thousand and One" - $1.8 million
8. "65" - $1.6 million
9. "Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania" - $1.2 million
10. "Jesus Revolution" - $1 million